Once you go down the subscription route, there's no going back, as far as the customer is concerned. You're locked in. You use whatever they are offering. If they make major changes that are bad, i.e., microsoft and vista/window8, tough luck. Live with it.

Now is the time for other software companies to identify and hire some of adobe's top talent so they can slay the giant.

The other publishers don't need Adobe talent. Corel, ACDsee and Serif are fully capable of producing quality work right now (and to be fair, they already DO, its just that damned Adobe lock on the market, keeps people from noticing). What they need is the expectation of a reasonable return on their investment. I believe this is such an opportunity, I hope they are brave enough to take it.